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Old 02-21-2015, 04:59 PM   #1
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Would you buy this?

Hi all, looking at purchasing this bus and wondering any opinions you have on it?

Good Bus?


Looking to do a full conversion to be lived in full time for one and a half to two years or so.


Items that will be included: living area,kitchen, shower stall, composting toilet, 1 bed, and hopefully ample storage, as well as half a roof top deck with some solar panels.

Will be used by me and my fiancce and our 2 dogs.

Any and all thoughts appreciated as this will be a new experience building our new home.

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Old 02-22-2015, 05:19 PM   #2
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Stay away from the Cat 3208 if you can! Get a Cummins, IH DT466, or at the very least a newer Cat 3116 or 3126. I have personal experience with the 3208, and it's best use is as a boat anchor.
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Old 02-22-2015, 05:25 PM   #3
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A friend of mine had an M35A2 and put a Cat 3208 in it and regretted it. Just sayin'...
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Old 02-23-2015, 06:07 AM   #4
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For the price, I think its a good deal.
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:50 AM   #5
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There are lots of 3208 Cat's in bots and have been for years. Because of the improved cooling potential in a marine environment they can pump up the power with turbo's and such. Heat is the arch enemy of the 3208 as it is not tolerant of overheating at all. The ones in the buses, however, are low power versions. As such, if not run hard they "can" last a good long time. It all depends on how often you plan on being on the move and if fuel economy is important to you. They are not known for getting good fuel economy. The upside of this bus is the engine is not computer controlled and as such will be much less expensive to work on when the time does come (and it does with all engines). The other upside is it's a Southern CA bus so rust is not going to be in the picture. Also, about the 3208. It does NOT have liners (neither does the 5.9 Cummins) so when this ad says "new engine" one has to wonder if in fact it is a new engine or a bored and rebuilt unit. If it's a new one as indicated with only 76,000 miles and you're only going to have her on the move occasionally, watch your temps closely and take it easy (which is what should be done anytime with any rig), you should be fine.
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Old 02-23-2015, 10:56 AM   #6
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Thanks for all the input guys, wish I could have gotten her. Unfortunately with all the fees and the cost to transport her up near chicago, price has gone out of budget.

However if you could give me your input on this bus going to go and take a look later this week. Going to see how low we can get them to go on price.
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Old 02-23-2015, 11:19 AM   #7
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The 3208 is a great engine for short haul or intermittent heavy duty use when placed into a land vehicle. Such as, oh I don't know, picking kids up and dropping them off on a local bus route. Also as loader or dozer engine.

In marine applications they are (as mentioned above) cooled sufficiently and therefore reliable. In fixed station operation (pumps or generators) they encounter conditions that are predictable and rarely fall outside of the design envelope.

Running one on an open highway for longer periods of time will kill them, in my opinion - which is free, so take it for what it's worth.
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Old 02-23-2015, 11:23 AM   #8
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OP- how far and how often do you plan to drive said bus?
I've seen some full timers with fantastic buses running 3208's for what its worth.
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Old 02-23-2015, 12:12 PM   #9
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Thanks for all the input guys, wish I could have gotten her. Unfortunately with all the fees and the cost to transport her up near chicago, price has gone out of budget.

However if you could give me your input on this bus going to go and take a look later this week. Going to see how low we can get them to go on price.
Unless you can get it for half that price I'd wait. There are good deals out there to those who are willing to be patient. I got a 40' 1995 AmTrans for a little under $3000. including auction fees from Public Surplus (the site of the first bus you posted). Flew to Lubbock, drove to Plainview and drove it home to SC. Had a few issues but nothing major. Lot's of peeps here doing the same thing.
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Old 02-23-2015, 02:09 PM   #10
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Unless you can get it for half that price I'd wait. There are good deals out there to those who are willing to be patient. I got a 40' 1995 AmTrans for a little under $3000. including auction fees from Public Surplus (the site of the first bus you posted). Flew to Lubbock, drove to Plainview and drove it home to SC. Had a few issues but nothing major. Lot's of peeps here doing the same thing.
Yeah 6500 and visible rust... I'd pass on that one too.
I got my 92 AmTran for even less than you did! Technically its a Ward though.
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Old 02-23-2015, 02:22 PM   #11
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Yeah 6500 and visible rust... I'd pass on that one too.
I got my 92 AmTran for even less than you did! Technically its a Ward though.
Rust on the INSIDE, which is probably from pressure washing the interior. A common enough practice for schools as I understand it, but pushing water into all the little cracks and crevices from the inside has never seemed like a good idea to me. I don't have to clean up after school kids though, so maybe I would feel different after a bunch of kids play snot-rockets all the way home...lol!
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Old 02-23-2015, 02:30 PM   #12
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Funny!

I actually don't think my bus was EVER really cleaned inside at all. Which was gross to demo, but now that its gutted its all good!
I hate that lots of districts hose out or pressure wash their buses, but why should THEY care, right?
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Old 02-23-2015, 02:40 PM   #13
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Yeah 6500 and visible rust... I'd pass on that one too.
I got my 92 AmTran for even less than you did! Technically its a Ward though.
Some people do like to brag !! I'll bet yours never fueled up on Dave Ward Dr. in Conway, AR though!! So there, take that !!
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Old 02-23-2015, 02:44 PM   #14
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haha you got me there!
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:16 PM   #15
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My neighbor has the 3208 cat in his 1982 bluebird wonderlodge never been touched except for normal oil changes and such runs the crap out of it. Handles the south west heat and hills just fine. I would not be afraid of one.
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:30 PM   #16
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1982 bluebird wonderlodge
Who has two thumbs and is jealous as all get out? THIS GUY. *Points to self*
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:31 PM   #17
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Awesome thanks for all the info guys.

Ya i wasn’t sure about the rust on the other bus and no way i would pay the listing price but overall i liked the bus and the fact that it is closer to home for me.

I guess the real problem is that we are ready to get started and want to buy the bus now. Fiancée is very particular about having a flat nose and from everythign that i have read the RE is the way that I want to go just from a maintenance perspective. If you guys see any good ones out there let me know. I will keep posting different busses in this thread until I find the one. Appreciate all the feedback on them.
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:57 PM   #18
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I'd look at some conventionals and FE's anyway.
I was set on RE and then ended up with something different.
There really are pluses to each style, if you ask me.
RE's are nice for the noise being in the back. FE's have a short wheelbase and tighter turning radius. Conventionals are often the best bargains and are robust and simple.
For maintenance and ruggedness, a conventional with a manual tranny would be my pick.
When it comes to living in them, there are also different pluses. FE's and conventionals have rear doors which may be useful to some. Conventionals do as well but also feature the plus of a straight up stairwell like a RE.
I'd make sure and get a high headroom bus WHATEVER you end up with. Unless you're both well under 6 feet.
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Old 02-25-2015, 04:43 PM   #19
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Man, I hate to be the one guy who keeps bringing this up, but this thread probably doesn't belong in the Project forum. Unless the Original Poster is going to eventually buy a bus and add to this thread after its purchase, this thread belongs in the Discussions forum. No offense intended.

I can understand that people want their questions answered and this forum gets more daily action than others, but there is a Sticky thread at the top of this forum with rules on what belongs here and what doesn't. I don't think a lot of people are reading that Sticky. (It's not long.)
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Old 02-25-2015, 05:07 PM   #20
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I say put the thread where it belongs.

No matter where it's posted, I will see it as I use the "New Posts" button.

No mater where the thread get's posted, it still shows up under that button.

Nat
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